Sleeping in Papasan

When my youngest son was three to four months he would only sleep a couple of hours at a stretch unless he was in his swing, too. In his swing he would sleep for five to six hours. After talking to our pediatrician, I would actually let him stay in his swing until he woke up and demanded to be fed. (He had reflux and apparently the upright position was easier on his tummy.) I would wake up as soon as he started crying, then I'd nurse him and put him to bed in his crib. It worked like an absolute charm and it was SO wonderful for me to be able to sleep for four or five hours in a single stretch. He's ten months now and he's been going down (in his crib) at 8:30 p.m. with absolutely no problem for about the last four months.

My daughter slept longer in her papasan swing too, and now at almost 6 months old she still naps better in it. She sleeps fantastically at night in her crib and pretty much always has (at an incline until recently). I say do whatever works! It's not going to harm her in any way to be in it for any extended time as long as she's not being neglected!
As for padding her bed, don't! But she might go for an incline that goes on or under the mattress, depending on the type. At her age, the kind that goes under the sheet, but over the mattress would be better and you can get them for under $13 at babies r us.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=240184...

My son also slept better in his swing too. He'd be sound asleep and then I would try and lay him in his crib and the feel of the mattress would wake him up. I thought that maybe the plastic of the mattress was cold and thats why. I put a thin blanket under his sheet and that seemed to help. Not always but mostly.

When he was older (probably around 6 or 7 months, he was really congested and sneezing. I called my nurse hotline and they suggested to me, to put a pillow under his mattress to elevate him. It worked wonders! Once he started to be less congested, I took it out. He seemed to be pretty congested during the first 6 months or so of his life. It started to fade away sometime between 7 and 9 months. Little Nose Saline drops helped some, better then anything else that is. Hope this helps.

Hi M. -

My son slept in his carseat, inside his crib, until he was four months old (and once in a while after that). This is perfectly safe, as long as your child is strapped in, and I assure you that your daughter will grow out of it. As someone mentioned already, the preference for sleeping in this upright position probably has something to do with acid reflux and other gastrointestinal, uh...."unpleasantness". ;)

Sorry - I have no idea what a "papasan" is, but you did mention padding. Avoid padding - that's where you get into trouble. Sleeping upright is okay, but padding raises the risk of suffocation - your daughter can't easily move herself if she gets into a position where she can't breathe!

Good luck.

My daughter is 7 months and we have had her elavated since she was born. She sleeps better and it makes me feel better that she will not choke in her sleep if she spits up. It also has helped during her first cold. I have put her flat a few times in her crib or on our bed and she wakes up after about 20 min. I hope this helps you in your decision.

Padding the bed might increase the risk of SIDS. Our baby was in the NICU for awhile after he was born and the doctor who discharged us told us the usual "flat on his back on the mattress" to reduce the risk of SIDS. My first son loved to sleep in his swing, it was the way we could get him to sleep for more than an hour at a time. So we let him sleep in his swing for the first few months. Then we moved him to his crib, we started with naps and then worked on night time sleeping. He is 3 years old now, and doing fine. I'm all for whatever works.

I have heard that can be dangerous to let your child sleep in a swing, carseat, pretty much anything that is upright. I didn't find out about that till just recently. I let my first daughter sleep a lot in her swing until she grew out of it. I did the same with my second.

You might be able to make her crib a little more padded if you put a couple of blankets (not huge and fluffy) between her fitted sheet and mattress. Is she rolling over? You'll want to be sure that if she rolls onto her stomach that her face does not get covered by the blankets under the fitted sheet.

I have found that with my girls, sometimes I needed to do something different, such as put my youngest in a crib to sleep instead of in our bed. She did not like this at all. We heard a lot of crying and screaming for about 2 months, but we stuck with it and now she goes down with out a peep.

My now 4 month old son was addicted to sleeping in the Papasan as well. In the past month, I have broken him of that habit. He always seemed to breath better when his head was elevated a little. I slowly just started moving his naps to his bed because I was concerned with how much he slept in there. I started out getting him to sleep in the Papasan then moved him to the bed. Then I changed it to him just being drowsy in there and moving him while he was still awake. Now I can just lay him in his bed or get him to sleep by rocking him and he takes great naps in his bed. I still let him sleep in the Papasan at times, but it's not as often. Best of luck!

My friends child died of SIDS at 4 months while in a papasan. They said it doesnt provide enough support, is too padded. I would recommend not allowing baby to sleep in one unless you are right there and awake the whole time.

Both of my grandchildren slept buckled in to their carseat which was inside the crib for several months. Eventually we learned that my grandson had GERD which explains the reason it worked for him. Elevating the head of his mattress didn't work. He just slid down to the bottom. I think my granddaughter preferred the car seat because she liked the security of being buckled in. It was like swaddling only she stayed bundled up all night. Both babies wore only pjs and then we covered them by placing a blanket over them once they were buckled.

I think I have read that the swing is not so good for long sleeps because it doesn't provide enough support. My grandson did take naps in the swing and suffered no ill effects.

I agree with "whatever works."